VIDEO: Nimble moves take local dancer places

BRITNEY Spears, Justin Timberlake and Usher are just some of the superstars who attended the academy that will soon be the training ground of homegrown talent Leanka Laubscher.

Laubscher, 24, won a scholarship to the Millennium Dance Complex after wowing judges at the World Championships for Performing Arts in Los Angeles last year.

She leaves tomorrow and will spend three weeks at the academy.

Laubscher is the Eastern Cape director for the South African Championships of Performing Arts.

At the World Championships, she won gold in the contemporary dance category and also won the 16-to-30-years musical character category. She also picked up four silver and six bronze medals.

“It was very overwhelming walking in there as a South African, we are not as open-minded about music as Americans are,” Laubscher said. “I brought back a lot of openmindedness in terms of my dancing. You learn different styles . . . it is all crazy, all the craziness I love.”

Laubscher opened her own dance studio, the Leanka Laubscher School of Dance, in February. She teaches all forms of dance including contemporary, modern, hip-hop and jazz.

She has also been a regular representative of the Eastern Cape at the South African Championships of Performing Arts, winning medals and qualifying for the national team since the age of 19.

Laubscher began her dancing career at a young age, deciding early on that she was not made for the sports field. “I enjoyed things like drama, music, acting. I never saw myself playing sports,” she said.

She left the Bay during her high school years and moved to George in 2006. She received school colours for both modern dance and hip-hop.

She obtained an associate diploma from the Association of International Dance Teachers in 2011, and completed her advanced associate diploma last year.

“I would like to see my studio grow into something really amazing. I want more to happen in terms of dance in the Eastern Cape.

“It sets a very good example to the youth, and if we can be anything, we need to try to be role models to our youth,” she said.

South African Championships of Performing Arts national director Dr Ellen Roux said Laubscher exuded an infectious passion.

She had a wealth of experience gained from the world championships and the boot camps she attended in Los Angeles, with which to teach the children, Roux said.

- Amir Chetty